President Obama pressed lawmakers on Monday to back the Paycheck Fairness Act, legislation that would toughen up current equal pay laws for women.
Amping up the message for female voters, Obama formally backed the bill and reiterated his support during a conference call."Congress needs to step up and do its job," said the president as part of a Democratic mega media blitz. "If Congress passes the Paycheck Fairness Act, women are going to have access to more tools to claim equal pay for equal work. If they don't, if Congress doesn't act, then women are still going to have difficulty enforcing and pressing for this basic principle."Republican nominee Mitt Romney's position is a little more unclear. When asked about the proposal, his team issued more of a non-answer answer. "Of course Governor Romney supports pay equity for women. In order to have pay equity, women need to have jobs, and they have been getting crushed in this anemic Obama economy, losing far more jobs than men. As president, Mitt Romney will create a pro-jobs business climate that will put all Americans back to work."
The White House says American women make 77 cents for every dollar earned by men.The Senate is scheduled to hold a procedural vote on Tuesday. Though, Dems aren't expected to get enough of the 60 votes needed to debate the bill. The short version: these efforts are more about getting on the record with voters over the issue.